Just wanted to say i have an edited version of this converted for RE2, Just ignore the shield on it.. and the fact will be only 98% on CPU, but 2% dont cut much and flys really well,-
I can drop on discord and drop it in the anvil section for you Jeff, (I know this is an old build but, Fixing Old to reuse... *Is Worth it*)

Thanks Dave_Riflemen. Back when this was made 2 some years ago, everything was different on how ships flew. A heavy one like this needed a lot of RCS to steer and turn decent. It was also problematic having to put in so many to get decent steering. And thanks again!

What's with the large amount RCS?

Thanks Myrmidon. That could work. It would feel wrong thou. The supposedly biggest toughest merc to be made with the weakest material. Some day I might try to do a massive rebuild of this ship working out new trust etc. Also the MX18 had a double layer hull. It was from a time before shields, flight model, and CPU existed. Where every larger SV needed a ton of RCS to turn decent, this ship having more than any other I built to date. Thanks again!

I understand the issued you are running into. How about replacing all blocks with light steel or maybe better with carbon with command replaceblocks and then kind of rebuilding the exterior hull with blocks you want? Just a final thought.Of course all internal walls might need to either be removed or remain carbon and wherever needed replaced by cargo extensions. Thank you for the reply.

Thanks Myrmidon! After attempting to update some other Merc larger ships, I sort of gave up an even trying to do something with the MX18. These ships tend to be too big and heavy to work with CPU. Basically the MX12H thru MX18. I mean they can work but the performance is not what they were intended to be. I am starting to work on some new SV's built around the CPU and flight model which does help a lot. It is hard to take older ships, especially large ones and get them to work as intended in A12. In the case of the MX18, it is so heavy that it needs a lot of well positioned thrust but the CPU will limit that badly making the ship fly like a brick. And thanks again!

It is a nice ship that 19k players would love to see it updates if you ever do it. I tried myself but rolling is an issue. Had to remove thrusters and all but 8-10 RCS to have her at +37 degrees turning. She can not roll easy though.

Thank you Jerander and Alex! @Jerander, some creations have been updated to A11 or 12 so far by myself, some others by other authors. If I updated them, I put a update note at the top of the post. The Merc-MX5, Merc-AME, Transit CH3 and CH5, Charon-CH10, Perses Carrier CV2, Nemesis Battle Cruiser, Carapace-C3, Kriel Overseer WC, and all Kriel HV's and SV's that I made. If I know of an modded version by other authors, I do link them on the post as well. In many cases another author might have switched it to A11 or A12. @Alex, I think with the RCS installed it would be so over T4 cpu it would get a massive penalty. I really have an issue with the MX12H and up in the Merc ships. The first thing I do when switching a ship to A11 or 12, is to remove all RCS. Most ships fly decent without them now. I have not looked at the MX18 yet thou. I doubt the ship could work as it once did back before CPU any longer. Thanks again!

when i play this sv in alpha 12, it rotates really slow, i see it already has 300+ RCS, perhaps its too heavy? i took out some of the heavy engines at the back, but its still turning very slow.
its hard to catch those drones flying everywhere. those drones don't do much, but its just very annoying

Love your Military Survival Series. I have been trying to upgrade them to version 11 and still having fun with them. I was wondering if you were planning to revisit and update these yourself?

Thank you Kipp Ky'Eva! I added it as a modded version above! Thanks again!

I am certainly not worthy to work on such a beautiful piece, but here is my hacking away at it. Please change whatever you do not like.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1874032586

Thank you Kipp Ky'Eva! Go ahead and publish it. I have no issue with that. If you want, send me a link to it here and I can add it as a modded version on the MX18 post. Again, thank you!

@jrandall I really liked the overall design, and I took the liberty of updating it to 10.5. If you are interested in the BP, let me know. I would be happy to share it. Obviously, I do not want to publish without your permission.

Ive taken most of the Merc designs and made internal cockpits instead of the singular fighter type outside cockpits. it took some reworking, but IMO it is far better than the original.

Thanks Feel My Burn. This was built in alpha 7 I believe. At the time there was no controller type storage and the items available were cargo and ammo boxes. As in the RCS, there still are no T2 RCS for SV's as in the latest experimental release. T2 RCS are only available for CV's. This is a combat ship designed to take on tougher survival things with a 1st person and 3rd person secure cockpit and 2+ block hardened steel hull with extra heavy front defense. I do agree it is very dated at the time thou. Thanks again.

It's a bit outdated. The cargo boxes restrict the amount of stuff you can hold considering it's cost. Same with the ammo container. There is also a tremendous amount of RCS modules and not one of them is a T2. If you are looking for a good small warp capable vessel there are PLENTY of other/cheaper options. You are better off making a small capital vessel. I'll be deconstructing this one and turning the resources into a smaller capital vessel and a smaller/cheaper small vessel. Thank you very much jrandall for the extensive other options you provided. Don't take my criticism negatively please. I'm just giving it an honest review from someone who plays the game extensively... but also values fuel efficiency, cost-benefit analysis, and cargo space.

Thanks Khloros and theoverlord35. @Khloros, yes. I have sanctum installation, Waypoint Hangar, Sentinel Station, and Helix orbital that can all fit this in the hangar. Other base like The Waypoint Station, even the Sanctuary ST starter base can have this park on a landing pad. Also most of my larger CV's (Perses Carrier, Hecate Carrier, Cerberus-PSV and NG, Nemesis Battle Cruiser, Gigacore-EX2 can also dock this in the Hangar. @theoverlord35, it could, but if you do get hit hard enough and lose o2, at least there is a O2 station in it to get air while repairs get made. With big CV's I do more with having separate o2 zones, but on SV's and HV's I feel they are too small to bother with. Thanks again!

Love the ship and your other large SV's!

A general question for you and anybody interested in providing feedback. . . For larger SV's like this one, is there any practical benefit in using force fields to create multiple O2 zones in case of hull breach?

Do anyone of your bases accomodate this ship? more to the point, does any of your base blue prints have a repair that this thing can utilize?

@jrandall thanks for the info.

@xiduk, I just updated the ship and it again has the secure cockpit installed. Thanks for the heads up!

@xoduk, I just noticed the internal cockpit disappeared from the build. With recent updates again it did not have enough room to spawn it in so it is missing. I will get this patched soon. It used to be in the back area as you walked in. Also on signal logic, I will need to improve that. It has no P menu option to turn it off on other than the manual switch in the backroom area. And that you very much!

@jrandall..Bloody brilliant ship, totally immersive, fantastic design, (eat your heart out George Lucas), and chews up POI's like a pit bull with a h*rd on, love it to bits mate well done. Two questions:-
1/. The internal cockpit, not seeing it, do I place one of my own in the central area you built ??
2/. The performance switch in the internal cabin, how do I access that from the front cockpit whilst in flight, for cruising etc, do I just switch off the signal tag under General in the P menu?

Like all of your ships, this one is excellent....I'm grinding for one of your principal capitals at the mo, (probably the cerberus) feel a bit like a mole.....

@Myrmidon, oh I bet you are right. I will take another look at it tonight when out of work. Thanks.

Nce job with the protected cockpit. I think you forgot the detector and wireless connector. But those two are easy to install anyway.

You are welcome. I am glad I could help.

@Myrmidon, Also thanks for the screen shots which made it easy to know exactly what to do to correct the problem.

@Karma and Myrmidon, I just updated the blueprint. I reworked the secure cockpit and tested. No other alpha 9 changed were made, at least at this time. The CPU use of this ship is far beyond would could possibly be fixed with current alpha 9 rules. Thanks again for the heads up. I appreciate the feedback :)

Thanks Karma and Myrmidon. Oh, more changes :) Thanks for the heads up. I wonder why the devs changed the way you get out of a cockpit. I am very concerned with this ship for the CPU too. It uses a lot of RCS and thrusters and I fear it just will not work any longer unless the CPU gets relaxed a lot. I will look into getting it updated to fix this cockpit issue thou. Thanks for the heads up and the pictures!

due to the recent A9.1 cockpit changes, for the 2nd secured cockpit I sugest remove the installed one and use an open type one placed in the middle of the areaa.

The LCD and one block in the entrance needs to be removed too, but everything else works like a charm. If needed place a wall of blocks infornt of the open cockpit for an extra block shield.

In the last photo on bellow link I show where the player is positioned when exiting the open cockpit.

Photos [imgur.com]

I just tried this on 9.1, and it seems like the 3rd person cockpit is broken, when i try to leave it puts me ontop of the cockpit, which traps me in the internal area.

Any idea whats going on?

Thanks 🛥Furious Hellfire!

You make some quality ships mate, nice work.

Thanks KagedDeamon and Vendon! @KagedDeamon, well, you don't. The way the game works with standard cockpits is it puts you outside unless somehow the front of the cockpit is surrounded by blocks. Thanks again!

This is a really amazing small ship. I totally love it. I had to put like 10 more generators and gas tanks because of powerusage but I am mostly using this ship here. It is small, has an inner side for people, even an protected cockpit which is the best. I've fav. this amazing work. Thanks :D

just have one question about the ship, when using the "Main" cockpit, how do I NOT pop out of the top of the ship whe I exit?

Thanks Lee Andrew! I really appreciate the comment!

I know this is not a new ship, but I thought the feedback might be appreciated. I have tried all Mercs in the last 6 weeks and used them for what they were made for, specially loved the latest one with the 2 editions, Merc-MX2W. If I had to choose a favorite, despite it's size, I would say the MX18 wins. I just love everything this offers, the maneuverability, storage, protection etc. just comes together nicely in this "package". When I start fresh after a server wipe, I tend to use the Merc-MX2W, but for later POIs and other activities the MX18 is my workhorse. Thank you so much for making these / sharing them. It is always a delight to use your designs and I always look forward to more!

@zver555, haha. Well, there is definitely room up there, but not near the front because the warp core is on the ceiling there. It was something I wasn't concerned with when I made this, but will consider it on new SV's etc. Thanks again!

Very nice sv) if there are some space in roof for hatch like anubis tank will be great! just for for hunting with my sniper rifle))))

Thanks Lucien! :)

jrandall, thankyou for your amazing builds and making this awesome game even better. love all your builds.

Thanks EyesadriftVA :)

Holy crap on a cracker! I've been using this for a few days and JUST REALIZED you also made the Persus. SHEEEEESH! I ABSOLUTALLY LOVE your designs! Keep up the amazing work! Here's hoping that all your stuff is future release proof too!

@jrandall thx

Thanks [BKNE] kiwimatsch!

your style just the best

the merc series goes amazing jrandall, thx for the steady artwork!

@LSJ, There is switch in the interior labelled perfromance mode. If it is green (up position), it is on. Off would be standard mode. Thanks.